Germany

Autumn in Munich means different things to different people. For several million visitors the high point of the year is the Oktoberfest. For several thousand the main attraction is two art and antiques fairs that run more or less concurrently.

Over three days, from October 22-24, Neumeister in Munich is holding a very special sale. Katrin Stoll, the daughter of Rudolf Neumeister (1925-2017), who took over the running of the firm in 2008, and her team will be selling her father’s extensive private collection.

In 1657, the 10-year-old Dutch orphan Christiaan Reijnaert was apprenticed to clockmaker Salomon Coster in The Hague. It was a momentous time for Coster: he is credited with building the first pendulum clock, incorporating the invention by Christian Huygens.

Munich auction house Quittenbaum is holding a specialist sale of works by René Lalique on November 12. One of the eye-catchers is an 11in (27cm) high table lamp with a bronze base, engraved with peacocks, and the opalescent figure of a naked young woman holding a translucent drape in her outstretched arms.

Forty years ago, Dr Jürgen Fischer held his first auction in Heilbronn which was devoted solely to glass. Since then it has been the main, but not exclusive, focus of the house.

Emilie Preyer (1849-1930) obviously learnt a lot from her father Johann Wilhelm Preyer, one of the most famous still-life painters in the Düsseldorf School in the late 19th century.

The most famous book from the first years of printing using moveable type is the Bible produced by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz in the mid-1450s, but in Hamburg on November 25 Ketterer Kunst will be offering another very rare and early Bible.

A work printed by Johannes Fust and Peter Schöffer will be offered for sale this month in Königstein, as part of Reiss & Sohn’s October 29-31 series of book, map, manuscript, photograph and print sales.

On October 12 Auction Team Breker in Cologne is holding a sale dedicated to antique office equipment. Among the distinctive pieces on offer is this Arithmomètre from 1865 guided at €3000-5000.

The key influence on the work of the French sculptor Roger Godchaux (1878-1958) came from an unexpected source. He had trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and soon became passionate about animal figures, first exhibiting at the Salon in 1905.

Traditionally, many 19th century painters copied famous works by the Old Masters as part of their artistic training.

Oktoberfest, the world’s largest volksfest held annually in Bavaria in September and October, is just one reason to travel to Germany in the autumn. Another is the plethora of auctions held in what is traditionally a busy season for the country’s salerooms

Even though the Bauhaus design school was forcibly closed in 1933, its influence continues to this day.

Aeneas Bastian is director of Bastian gallery in Berlin and London. It was founded by his parents, Céline and Heiner, in 1989 and expanded to Mayfair earlier this year.

Dealers from France and England contributed to a protracted bidding battle for a rare Renaissance maiolica dish offered at an auction house in Saxony.

Centenary of the hugely influential school’s foundation prompts a string of auctions.

In its active years, some 1200 students passed through the Bauhaus school. It marked the starting point of many an illustrious career as numerous members of the teaching staff went on to become the most important artists of their era.

Metalware in all its forms played a major part in the development of the Bauhaus and recent sales contained examples in every price range.

One of the offshoots of the Bauhaus was the ceramic factory in Velten-Vordamm, just north of Berlin. Much of the stoneware designed by the ceramic artists at the school was executed there, several examples of which came up for sale at Quittenbaum.